It’s Monday – What Are You Reading?

13Oct

I’ve been following Sheila (Book Journey)’s blog for over a year now and have often added many books to Mt TBR when I read her “It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?” thread, so I figured I would finally jump into the fun and post my updates.

I had a great long weekend at a reader’s luncheon in Washington DC on Saturday where I scored like 20 new books to read (although, I have no idea where I am going to start). I also have (like always) about 4 different books in progress. So here is a bit of a glimpse into the current state of my currently-reading pile.

Dying to Please – Linda Howard
Loyal. Beautiful. Professional. Impeccably organized. Potentially lethal. Sarah Stevens is a woman with many distinct qualities. First and foremost a butler par excellence, skilled at running large households smoothly and efficiently, she is also a trained bodyguard and expert marksman–indispensable to her elderly employer, a courtly gentleman whom Sarah has come to respect and love as a father.

Then one night she thwarts a burglary in progress, a courageous act that rewards Sarah her requisite “fifteen minutes of fame” with the local press. But the exposure is enough to catch the attention of a tortured soul who, unbeknownst to Sarah, will stop at nothing to have her for himself.

I picked up this book because of a reading challenge, specifically, I needed a book with one of the following words in the title: please, “thank you”, thanks, “may I”, pardon, welcome, sorry. I found Dying to Please, in stock at the library in the audiobooks and its by a narrator I liked (Susan Erickson who also does the In Death books). I’m about 2/3 of the way through right now and I can see why many of my reading friends who have read it have issues with the hero in the story and some of his actions – I don’t know if I have faith that Ms Howard will pull off a believable ending, but we shall see.

Anything But Sweet – Candis TerryHE’S STUBBORN AND THOROUGHLY MALE . . .
If Charlotte Brooks thinks she and her TV makeover show can turn Reno Wilder’s hometown upside down, he’ll be happy to prove her wrong. The x-Marine has seen too much turmoil and he likes Sweet, Texas, just the way it is. Traditional. Familiar. A little dull. Everything Charli isn’t. But instead of backing off from his scowls like everyone else, Charli digs in her skyscraper heels.

SHE’S TENACIOUS AND WICKEDLY TEMPTING . . .
Reno Wilder is a one-man unwelcoming committee, but Charli isn’t budging. It’s clear the gorgeous cowboy needs an overhaul just as much as Sweet. Someone needs to break him out of that gruff shell and show him how fun and rewarding a little change can be.THEY’RE ABOUT TO FIND THAT LOVE IS ANYTHING BUT PREDICTABLE.

Anything But Sweet is another book that I picked up for a reading challenge (this time, I needed a book set in Texas). Can you tell that I like reading challenges? Candice Terry was recommended to me by T.J. Kline after I won a blogger prize from her at a launch party and was looking for a book set in Texas. I’m also a sucker for small-town romances, so I’m intrigued how this is going to turn out. I’m only about 10% of the way in on my kindle – so still very undecided.

Podium Finish – Beth Pond
With six months until the Olympic Games, seventeen-year-old Harper’s life is pretty much perfect. She’s fighting for the starting spot on Team USA Women’s Hockey, and for the first time ever, she has a crush on a guy who likes her back. She feels like the luckiest girl in the world, until she runs a risky play at practice and breaks her knee, thereby sentencing herself to six weeks in a cast and possibly ending her Olympic dream before it even starts.

For seventeen-year-old Alex, being anything less than the best is unacceptable. That’s why, after a miserable debut season at the senior level, the former junior national singles champion switches to ice dance. Her skating partner, Ace, is an “all skating all the time” type of guy, which would be fine, if he’d stop keeping secrets about the real reason he and his former partner broke up. Now is not the time for second thoughts, but how can Alex skate her best if she can’t trust her partner…or herself?

As the pressure to make the Olympic team builds, the girls must rely on each other, because if there’s one thing they both know, it’s that the only thing harder than skating to the top is staying there.

Podium Finish was a random pick-up when I was browsing the new release ebooks on the library website. I don’t exactly know what intrigued me about it, but I’m really hoping for a fairly angst free YA book, but I have a worry based on what I’ve read so far, that I’m not going to get that. Its told it an alternating POV, Harper, the Ice hockey player and Alex, the Ice Dancer. I guess time will tell how this will turn out.

Rock Addiction – Nalini SinghA bad boy wrapped in a sexy, muscled, grown-up package might be worth a little risk…
Molly Webster has always followed the rules. After an ugly scandal tore apart her childhood and made her the focus of the media’s harsh spotlight, she vowed to live an ordinary life. No fame. No impropriety. No pain. Then she meets Zachary Fox, a tattooed bad boy rocker with a voice like whiskey and sin, and a touch that could become an addiction.

A one-night stand with the hottest rock star on the planet, that’s all it was meant to be…
Fox promises scorching heat and dangerous pleasure, coaxing Molly to extend their one-night stand into a one-month fling. After that, he’ll be gone forever, his life never again intersecting with her own. Sex and sin and sensual indulgence, all with an expiration date. No ties, no regrets. Too late, Molly realizes it isn’t only her body that’s become addicted to Fox, but her heart…

I should love this book, Nalini Singh is probably one of my current favorite authors, I devour her Psy-Changling books when they are released, but for some reason, this one just isn’t working for me. I’ve had it in progress for close to a month and I just have no desire to pick it up. I know when I do, I’ll probably get sucked in and finish it up, but reading it now, is just ehh…I guess I’ll try to finish it up this week, since I have Friday off and we’ll go from there.

I guess that’s about it – What books are your currently reading? Anything that makes you scream, must read?